The Institute of Physics (IOP) is Britain and Ireland's main professional body for physicists. It was founded as the Physical Society in 1874 and it now has over 35,000 members worldwide. It grants the professional qualifications of Chartered Physicist (CPhys) as well as Chartered Scientist (CSci) as a member organisation of the Science Council and Chartered Engineer (CEng) as a nominated body of the Engineering Council. British professional bodies The following is a list of professional bodies in the United Kingdom. ... ... The Physical Society of London, England, existed from 1874 to 1921. ... Year 1874 (MDCCCLXXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link with display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Professional qualifications in the UK are generally awarded by professional bodies in line with their charters. ... Chartered Scientist (CSci) is a professional qualification in the United Kingdom that is managed by the Science Council. ... The Science Council is the umbrella body covering scientific professional institutes and learned societies in the UK. Together, the member organisations cover over 150,000 scientists. ... The term chartered engineer is a UK professional certification in engineering. ... The Engineering Council is recognised by the UK Govemment as the national representative body of the engineering profession, working in partnership with other engineering institutions, and is a Designated Authority, under the implementing regulations for Directive 89148/EEC. This directive is implemented for engineering in the UK by Statutory Instrument...

The Institute of Physics building in Portland Place

Through a wholly owned subsidiary, IOP Publishing, the IOP is a leading publisher of science books and international journals, with over 40 titles. IOP Publishing has won the Queen's Award for Export Achievement three times, in 1990, 1995 and 2000. A second subsidiary, Institute of Physics Events, runs the Rutherford Conference Centre at 76 Portland Place, London. The IOP also run Physics.org, an online guide to physics, and Physicsweb.org, carrying physics news, jobs, and resources. Physics World is the membership magazine of the IOP. It also publishes the magazine, Optics & Laser Europe Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 430 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (1232 × 1716 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 430 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (1232 × 1716 pixel, file size: 1. ... Portland Place is a street in the Marylebone district of central London. ... The Queens Award for Enterprise is an award for British companies and other organizations who excel at international trade, innovation or sustainable development. ... Portland Place is a street in the Marylebone district of central London. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Physics World cover from the February 2005 issue Physics World is the membership magazine of the Institute of Physics, one of the largest physical societies in the world. ...

Membership

There are three grades of membership: Associated Member (AMInstP), Member (MInstP) and Fellow (FInstP). Qualification for AMInstP is normally by completion of an undergraduate degree accredited by the Institute – this covers almost all UK physics degrees. An AMInstP can become an MInstP by gaining professional experience as a physicist and an FInstP by making "an outstanding contribution to the profession". MInstP and FInstP are the two corporate grades of membership, granting the right to vote in Institute elections. There are also student and affiliate grades of membership for those currently studying physics degrees and those who do not have accredited degrees (or equivalent experience).

Chartered Physicist

The Institute grants the professional title of Chartered Physicist (CPhys). Until 1998 this was granted automatically with MInstP, however since then it has become a separate qualification that is equal in stature to Chartered Engineer. In order to gain the qualification, a physicist must be appropriately qualified (an MSci or MPhys undergraduate master's degree is standard, although experience leading to an equivalent level can be counted), have had a minimum of two years of structured training and a minimum of two years responsible work experience, have demonstrated a commitment to continuing professional development, and have gained a number of competencies. Professional qualifications in the UK are generally awarded by professional bodies in line with their charters. ... The term chartered engineer is a UK professional certification in engineering. ... A masters degree is an academic degree usually awarded for completion of a postgraduate (or graduate) course of one to three years in duration. ...

Qualifications

The IoP accredits undergraduate degrees (BSc/BA and MSci/MPhys) in Physics in British and Irish universities. At post-16 level, the IoP has developed the 'Advancing Physics' A-level course, in conjunction with the OCR examining board, which is accredited by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. Advancing Physics is an A-level physics course examined by OCR which was developed in association with the Institute of Physics with assessment through written examinations and teacher-assessed coursework. ... An A-level, short for Advanced Level, is a General Certificate of Education usually taken during Further Education and after GCSEs. ... The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Education and Skills in the United Kingdom. ...

Academic dress

The Institute grants academic dress to the various grades of membership. Those who have passed the Institute's graduateeship examination are entitled to a violet damask Oxford burgon-shaped hood (a cowl only, with no cape) lined with red taffeta. Corporate members (MInstP and FInstP) may wear a full-shaped (cowl and cape) violet damask hood lined with violet tafeta. Additionally MInstP and those who have passed the graduateeship examination are entitled to wear a black mortarboard and a black bachelor's-style gown, while FInstP may wear a black doctor's bonnet with red tassels and a black Oxford doctor's-style gown with facings (10cm) and sleeves (15cm) of violet taffeta. Academic dress or academical dress (also known in the United States as academic regalia) is traditional clothing worn specifically in academic settings. ... This page concerns the Academic dress of Oxford University. ... Graduation portrait of Linus Pauling, 1922 A mortarboard is an item of academic headgear consisting of a horizontal square board fixed upon a skull-cap, with a tassel attached to the centre. ... This page concerns the Academic dress of Oxford University. ...

Awards

The Institute of Physics bestows several awards to recognise and reward outstanding achievements in physics. These include:

• Boys Medal and Prize, for distinguished research in experimental physics, which recognises physicist early in their careers.
• Bragg Medal and Prize, for significant contributions to physics education.
• Chree Medal and Prize, for distinguished research in environmental physics, terrestrial magnetism, atmospheric electricity and related subjects.
• Duddell Medal and Prize, for outstanding contributions to the advancement of knowledge through the application of physics.
• Dirac Medal and Prize, for outstanding contributions to theoretical physics.
• Guthrie Medal and Prize, for an internationally outstanding body of work in physics.
• Glazebrook Medal and Prize, for outstanding contributions to physics organizations or the application of physics.
• Kelvin Medal and Prize, for contributions to the public understanding of science.
• Maxwell Medal and Prize, in recognition of outstanding contributions to theoretical physics in the past ten years.
• Mott Medal and Prize, for distinguished research in condensed matter physics or material physics.
• Paterson Medal and Prize, for outstanding contributions by a physicist early in their career to the application of physics and its commercial exploitation.
• Rutherford Medal and Prize, for nuclear physics, nuclear technology or elementary particle physics.
• Young Medal and Prize, for distinguished research in the field of optics, including physics outside the visible region.

Experimental physics is the part of physics that deals with experiments and observations pertaining to natural/physical phenomena, as opposed to theoretical physics. ... Earths magnetic field (the surface magnetic field) is approximately a magnetic dipole, with one pole near the geographic north pole and the other near the geographic south pole. ... Cloud to ground Lightning in the global atmospheric electrical circuit. ... Confusingly, there are two prominent awards in the field of theoretical physics and mathematics commonly known as the Dirac Prize, awarded by different organizations. ... Theoretical physics employs mathematical models and abstractions of physics, as opposed to experimental processes, in an attempt to understand nature. ... The Guthrie Medal and Prize is a prize awarded annually by the Institute of Physics in the memory of Frederick Guthrie, by the The Physical Society in 1914 and until 1966 was known as the Guthrie Lecture. ... Theoretical physics employs mathematical models and abstractions of physics, as opposed to experimental processes, in an attempt to understand nature. ... Condensed matter physics is the field of physics that deals with the macroscopic physical properties of matter. ... Nuclear physics is the branch of physics concerned with the nucleus of the atom. ... In particle physics, an elementary particle or fundamental particle is a particle not known to have substructure; that is, it is not made up of smaller particles. ... The Young Medal and Prize is a prize awarded on odd numbered years by the Institute of Physics in the memory of Tomas Young for distinguished research in the field of optics, including physics outside the visible region. ... Table of Opticks, 1728 Cyclopaedia Optics ( appearance or look in ancient Greek) is a branch of physics that describes the behavior and properties of light and the interaction of light with matter. ...

Publications (Selection)

• Journal of Physics A
• Journal of Physics B
• Reports on progress in Physics
• New Journal of Physics, an Open Access journal

Journal of Physics A is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Institute of Physics (IOP) in the United Kingdom. ... Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics (ISSN 0953-4075) or JOPB is a peer-reviewed scientific journal, published semi-monthly by the Institute of Physics (IOP) in the United Kingdom. ... Reports on Progress in Physics is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Institute of Physics (IOP) in the United Kingdom. ... Open access (OA) means immediate, free and unrestricted online access to digital scholarly material[1], primarily peer-reviewed research articles in scholarly journals. ...

External links

• iop.org - The Institute of Physics
• iop.org/EJ - Electronic Journals from IoP
• Physics.org - An online guide to physics produced by the IOP.
• AdvancingPhysics.iop.org - The IOP AS/A2 level physics course.
• LearningPhysics.iop.org - A website produced by the IOP to aid physics education for pre university physics students.
• TeachingPhysics.iop.org/ - A website produced by the IOP to aid the teaching of physics in Schools and Colleges.
• 76PortlandPlace.com - A conference centre maintained by IOP Enterprises Ltd (which is part of the IOP).

Websites produced by Institute of Physics Publishing

• PhysicsWeb.org - A website produced by the IOP with physics news, jobs, and resources.
• Optics.org - A website produced by the IOP containing lasers, optics and photonics resources and news.
• MedicalPhysicsWeb.org - A website produced by the IOP regarding medical physics.
• eprintweb.org - An e-print service based on the arXiv.org service.
• CompoundSemiconductor.net - Contains news, articles from Compound Semiconductors and a Buyer's Guide. A resource for the compound semiconductor community.
• nanotechweb.org - Provides news, resources and events listings for nanotechnology community.
• cerncourier.com - Computer Newsletter section, Buyer’s Guide and the Jobs Watch directory.
• fibers.org - news, analysis, buyers guide and recruitment service for optical networking community.
• wireless.iop.org - news, features, and events calendar for the wireless community.